AnonymousAnonymous wrote:
There is a misconception that when JFK said "Ich bien ein Berliner", he may have actually said "I am a jelly donut."
In Germany that have a kind of pastry called a "Berliner". And when he made the speech cartoons appeared in German papers the next day showing little pastries with legs and mouths walking around spouting the phrase "I am a Berliner". That might be the origin of that.
To me the most amusing misconception is the widespread belief that "you can see the Great Wall of China from the Moon".
Amusing because its totally illogical.
Why would the Great Wall China be any more visible from space than Route 66, or any other man made artifact?
If a giant were to scoop together the Great Wall of China into one big pile of masonry it would indeed dwarf the Pyramids at Giza and in theory would be visible from far out in space. But the Great Wall as it exists is essentially just an elevated two lane highway that runs for 2000 miles. Since it runs essentially east-to-west (rather than north-to-south) it doesnt even cast much of shadow. So its a 20 foot wide ribbon of stone. A typical telephone line is like an inch thick. So for an astronaut to see the Great Wall from 100 miles up (low orbit) would be like you resolving a telephone line half of a mile away. Except telephone lines have higher color contrast with the background sky (black against blue, or gray). The GWOC is the same color as the surrounding countryside. Thats an astronaut in low orbit. An astronaut on the moon is 238 thousand miles up. So for an astronaut on the moon to be able to see it that would be like you being able to see a telephone line at a distance of a thousand miles-WITH that line being painted in color to camoflauge it with the sky.
10 Jan 2016, 4:26 pm
